A typical wiring harness is a collection of wires and cables that can be used to transmit power and/or signals throughout a machine. Wiring harnesses are commonly used in the transportation industry, for example inside vehicles (e.g., inside aircraft, automobiles, watercraft, and spacecraft). A wiring harness secures the individual wires and cables in a bundle, which is protected from environmental factors, such as abrasion, moisture, contamination, and vibrations. The bundled wires have a reduced footprint inside of the vehicle, and a time required for assembly of the wiring harness with the rest of the associated vehicle components may be lower than a time associated with assembling each individual wire or cable separately.
A wiring harness is generally fabricated as a subassembly via a manual process that is separate from assembly of the rest of the vehicle. For example, the individual wires and/or cables are manually cut to length, stripped at their ends of associated insolating sheathing, joined to associated connectors, and laid within a jig corresponding to one specific vehicle model. After all of the required wires and cables are in the jig, a sleeve (e.g., tape, shrink wrap, conduit, etc.) is placed around the wires. The subassembly is then complete and can thereafter be affixed to the vehicle (e.g., via zip ties, push-lock buttons, and/or threaded fasteners).
Although conventional wiring harnesses may be adequate for some applications, they can also be problematic. For example, conventional wiring harnesses can be heavy, expensive, prone to environmental contamination and/or damage, and difficult to conform to vehicle contours. In addition, whenever a change in the wiring harness is required (e.g., to accommodate new or additional vehicle components), the associated jig and sleeve may similarly require expensive and/or time-consuming changes.
The disclosed system, method, and wiring harness are directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems of the prior art.